Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament

Newsletter No. 88

March 2005

THE YEAR OF THE EUCHARIST

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29).

“Behold, I make all things new!” (Rev 21:5). Alleluia! Alleluia!

We “were ransomed . . . with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless, unblemished lamb” (1 Pt 1:18-19). Each Holy Thursday, we remember that Jesus gave us the gift of Himself in the Holy Eucharist and instituted the priesthood so that He could always remain with us in theBlessed Sacrament. Every Mass is a memorial of the new Passover. On Good Friday, Jesus offered His Body and Blood for us on the Cross to save us, and reopen the gates of heaven to us. Holy Saturday is the time we await His rising. On Easter Sunday, we celebrate Jesus’ victory over sin and death, His glorious resurrection from the dead! Alleluia, alleluia!

The glorious resurrection of Our Lord continues in the glory of this most Blessed Sacrament, because this is where Our Risen Savior dwells, pouring out His life, His light and His love to all of us who come into His Presence. This is the Easter sacrament because the Eucharist makes present all the Paschal Mysteries of His life, death and resurrection. The Eucharist is Our Risen Lord, where all the power of His resurrection flows out to all who come into His Eucharistic Presence. Go to Holy Mass, receive Him in Holy Communion; spend time with Him in Eucharistic Adoration; and live forever with Him in glory for eternity in heaven!

“Once we have truly met the Risen One by partaking of his body and blood, we cannot keep to ourselves the joy we have experienced. The encounter with Christ, constantly intensified and deepened in the Eucharist, issues in the Church and in every Christian an urgent summons to testimony and evangelization . . . . The Eucharist not only provides the interior strength needed for this mission, but is also —in some sense—its plan . . . . Can we not see here a special charge which could emerge from this Year of the Eucharist?” (Pope John Paul II, Mane Nobiscum Domine, 25).

Ideas inspired by Ecclesia de Eucharistia to help celebrate the Year of the Eucharist:

Week 22 “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (Jn 20:21).“From the perpetuation of the sacrifice of the Cross and her communion with the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, the Church draws the spiritual power needed to carry out her mission. The Eucharist thus appears as both the source and the summit of all evangelization” (Art. 22). Invite a family member, friend, neighbor or co-worker to go to Mass and/or Adoration with you.

Week 23 “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor 10:17). “Our union with Christ [in the Eucharist], which is a gift and grace for each of us, makes it possible for us, in him, to share in the unity of his body which is the Church” (Art. 23). Make a Holy Hour, and give a Holy Hour gift card, to someone in need.

Week 24 “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body . . . and we were all given to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor 12:13). “The Eucharist, precisely by building up the Church, creates human community” (Art. 24). Offer a parish Holy Hour for vocations to the priesthood and religious life on Holy Thursday. Encourage adorers to pray for seminarians, priests, bishops, cardinals and our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II.

Week 25 “[John, the beloved disciple, was] leaning on Jesus’ breast” (Jn 13:25).“It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf. Jn 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in his heart”(Art. 25). Spend a Holy Hour resting in Jesus’ Love.

Copyright, Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament. All rights reserved.

Start Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in your parish and community today!

St. Patrick, Bishop and Patron of Ireland (d. 461)—Feast, March 17tc "St. Patrick, Bishop and Patron of Ireland (d. 461)—Feast, March 17"

Devoted his life to lead the people of Ireland to belief and adoration of the one true God! tc "Devoted his life to lead the people of Ireland to belief and adoration of the one true God! "

St. Joseph, Patron of The Universal Church, Spouse of B.V.M.—Feast, March 19tc "St. Joseph, Patron of The Universal Church, Spouse of B.V.M.—Feast, March 19"

Next to our Blessed Mother Mary, St. Joseph was the first and most perfect adorer of Jesus.tc "Next to our Blessed Mother Mary, St. Joseph was the first and most perfect adorer of Jesus."

“Saint Joseph adored our Lord in a spirit of compassion. By faith he saw and joined the self-immolation of Christ on Calvary and on the altar. To perfect his love Jesus gave him a preview of the Passion, for a love that does not suffer is a childlike love. You will never equal Joseph in compassionate love, but unite with him in adoring the Sacred Victim on the altar; let your faith be food and light for your adoration” (St. Peter Julian Eymard). St. Joseph, protect the Church! tc "“Saint Joseph adored our Lord in a spirit of compassion. By faith he saw and joined the self-immolation of Christ on Calvary and on the altar. To perfect his love Jesus gave him a preview of the Passion, for a love that does not suffer is a childlike love. You will never equal Joseph in compassionate love, but unite with him in adoring the Sacred Victim on the altar; let your faith be food and light for your adoration” (St. Peter Julian Eymard). St. Joseph, protect the Church! "

St. Catherine of Genoa, Wife and Mystic, Italy, (1447-1510)—Feast, March 22tc "St. Catherine of Genoa, Wife and Mystic, Italy, (1447-1510)—Feast, March 22"

“Any time spent before the Eucharistic presence, be it long or short, is the best-spent time of our lives.” “O my Jesus, in Thee is every good, in Thee is all love.” (Words of St. Catherine)

Holy Thursday—March 24

“The Eucharist is the source and nourishment of every priestly and religious vocation” (Pope John Paul II, 2/1/05). “In his immense love, Christ chose men who would have his hands and his feet, in whom he could walk, in whom he could forgive sins, who could lift him up, who could give us the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist—the Bread and Wine, which he said makes for life everlasting!.... Consider, on your knees, the mystery of God's love for us, that he didn't want to leave us orphans.... For Christ knew our hunger for himself. He knew that we would be walking around in the darkness of a thousand wars and miseries throughout this life.... This is Holy Thursday. This is when the Christ we are talking about took an ordinary piece of bread and little wine and changed it into his Body and his Blood.... Remember this day always, year after year: the day of Christ’s infinite love, when he went away and yet he remained, in Bread and Wine” (Catherine Doherty, Servant of God).

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion—March 25—Could You Not Watch One Hour With Me?

“The chants of the heavenly Jerusalem are interrupted. The entire court of Heaven waits in order to receive the last throb of the Heart of the Man-God, the victim of Golgotha. Fervent loving souls, we are truly at the summit of Calvary; it is the Holy Hour! A loud voice resounds in the heights, a voice that says: ‘Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.’ And bending His lacerated Head, Jesus Crucified dies of love. It is His Heart which out of love for us has brought Him to death . . . [and] gave us life” (Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey).

Holy Saturday—March 26

“This is he [Jesus in the Holy Eucharist] who is the Passover of our salvation . . . . This is he who on the cross was not broken, and in the earth did not decay, but from the dead rose again, and raised up man from the depths of the tomb” (Melito of Sardis, Second Century Monk).

Easter Sunday, The Resurrection of Our Lord—March 27

“The risen Jesus is himself ‘our hope’ (1 Tim 1:1). And this our hope is literally embodied with his glorified humanity in the Eucharist, which is the living ‘memorial of his death and resurrection’ [Vatican II: Presbyterorium Ordinis, 5].” “Faith assures us that it is the selfsame risen Saviour who now sacramentally . . . offers himself to us in Communion as the bread of life, and who offers his perpetual presence for our adoration” (Fr. Richard Foley, S.J.).

Jesus is Risen-Alleluia!!! We wish you and your loved ones a Blessed and Joyous Easter!

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